The present invention relates to satellite communications in general and, in particular, to resource allocation. Satellite communications systems often have a limited amount of available bandwidth to be allocated to terminals. However, the bandwidth needs for the terminals within a system may change over time. Moreover, different terminals may have varying service level agreements, and receive different types and amounts of traffic.
It may, therefore, be desirable to utilize a system design in which resources are allocated dynamically, in response to bandwidth measurements and terminal characteristics, along with various quality of service metrics.